Radiator cover



Oct. 6, 1942. KUYPER 2,297,965

RADIATOR COVER Filed Feb. 26, 1940 INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 6, 1942 RADIATOR COVER Peter H. Kuyper, Pella,Iowa, assignor to Rolscreen Company, Pella, Iowa, a corporation of IowaApplication February 26, 1940, Serial No. 320,925

2 Claims.

My present invention relates to a cover for an automobile radiator witha screen or similarly perforated flexible sheet and in the wintertimecovers the radiator to a greater or less degree with a substantiallyimperforate flexible sheet, the portion of the radiator uncovered by theimperforate sheet being covered by the perforate sheet,

one object of the invention is to provide the perforate and imperforatesheets in the form of screen wire and a suitable fabric, respectively,secured together end to end, and to wind the free ends on springactuated rollers so that the portions of the sheets between the rollersare maintained taut, the rollers being mounted in casings at the top andbottom of the radiator and the entire assembly being thus constructedand arranged so that the fabric can cover the bottom of the radiator toa greater or less degree with the screen covering the upper portion ofthe radiator.

A further object is to provide a radiator cover which may be readilyinstalled in the presentday types of automobiles provided with fronthousings including a grill through which air may pass to the radiatorand a pan at the bottom of the radiator.

Still another object is to provide an installation which includes hookedbinder bars on the free ends of the fabric and screen so that the binderbars may be detached from each other during the installation process,thus facilitating installation, and after installation has beencompleted then the binder bars can be drawn toward each other and hookedtogether, whereaft-er an adjusting means such as a web or the likeattached to the binder bar may be used for the purpose of raising orlowering the binder bar and thereby changing the degree of coverage ofthe fabric relative to the radiator.

With the foregoing and other contemplated as well as obvious objects inview, the invention comprises the combination of elements andarrangement of parts so combined as to coact and cooperate with eachother in the performance of the functions and the accomplishment of theresults herein contemplated, and comprises in one of its adaptations thespecies or preferred form illustrated in the accompanying drawing,wherein.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the front housing of anautomobile in which the radiator is mounted, the radiator being shown inside elevation and my radiator cover being shown in end elevation asapplied thereon;

.which air may enter to the radiator.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of portions of Figure 1 showingparticularly the construction of the housings for enclosing rollers onwhich the cover members of my invention are wound;

Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 1 as taken on the line 3--3 thereof,and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing my cover installed inanother type of automo- I bile.

I am aware that heretofore covers have been provided for radiators ofautomobiles, but ordinarily these are of the type used merely for winteruse and consist of cover members which can cover the radiator to agreater or less degree. It is also necessary to protect radiators in thesummertime from the entrance of butterflies, bugs and the like to theradiator core, and for this purpose the winter cover is usually removedand a screen substituted in place of it. To overcome the necessity ofinterchanging the winter cover and the screen cover, I have provided anarrangement in which a winter cover may be adjusted to cover more orless of the radiator as desired, and a screen is provided to cover theremaining part of the radiator.

With reference to my invention in detail, it includes in general a lowercasing C and an upper casing C. The casing C has a roller ID therein andthe casing C has a similar roller I2. Wound on the roller is asubstantially imperforate flexible sheet I3 of fabric or the like andwound on the roller I2 is a perforate flexible sheet I4 of screen wireor the like. The free ends of the sheets I3 and I4 are enclosed inhooked binder bars I5 and I6 which are detachably hooked together asillustrated.

The casings C and C may be mounted in any suitable manner adjacent thebottom and top, respectively, of a radiator R, as shown in Figures 1 and4. In Figures 1, 2 and 3 I show for this purpose strap irons I'I securedto the casing C and other strap irons I8 formed in the shape of an Lsecured to the casing C. The strap irons I! may be secured as by screwsI9 to a pan 20 at the bottom of the radiator R. The brackets I8 may besecured as by screws 2I to flanges 22 of a housing H for the radiator R.Most present-day cars are provided with housings of this kind having agrill 23 consisting of spaced bars of the like at the front of thehousing through There is plenty of room within the housing ahead of theradiator for installing my radiator cover.

In Figure 4 I show the cover adapted for another type of radiator R inwhich the housing H has a grill 23 and a pan 20 has the casing C securedthereto. A modified form of bracket l8 is secured to a cross bar 22 ofthe housing H. Various brackets or strap irons of difierent shapes maybe substituted in an obvious manner for the elements I! and I8 toaccommodate different types of automobile construction.

The rollers l and I2 are preferably springurged to rotate in opposeddirections. The springs are indicated at 24. The springs are of thecoiled type surrounding rods 25 and each spring has one end 26 connectedwith the rod and its other end 21 connected with the roller. The rodsare held against rotation by pins 28 through slots 29 in the ends of therods. The pins are inserted after the rods have been rotated to wind thesprings to the desired tension. Thereafter cotter keys 3!) are insertedthrough the rods to prevent dislocation of the pins.

Any convenient arrangement may be provided for adjusting the binder barsl and I6 upwardly for covering more of the radiator, or downwardly forcovering less or for covering the entire radiator with screen only, asshown in Figure 4. By way of example, I show a web 3| secured as at 32to one of the binder bars and passing around pulleys 33 and 34. Thepulleys 33 and 34 are supported by brackets 35 and 36 on the casings Cand C, respectively. The web 3| may have a knot 31 tied therein at abracket 38 so as to hold the binder bars at the desired position. Inorder to change the position of the binder bar the knot is untied, therespective ends of the web 3| are readjusted as desired, and the knottied at the bracket 38.

With my radiator cover it is unnecessary to remove a winter cover andsubstitute a summer cover in the spring-time, and vice versa at thebeginning of winter. The matter of untying the knot 31 and readjustingthe binder bars can be readily accomplished at the proper times. Thefabric and screen are automatically housed in such a manner that onlythe part of either being used is exposed, and the degree of exposure maybe changed as desired, depending on weather conditions in the wintertime, when more or less of the radiator should be covered by the fabric,depending on whether the weather is colder or warmer. Any portion of theradiator not covered by the fabric is covered by the screen so thatforeign substances cannot enter the radiator in the winter time. Whenthe cover is adjusted for summer operation, then the radiator iscompletely covered with screen, without the necessity of having toremove the winter cover and place a screen cover in position. Theadvantages of such an arrangement are quite obvious.

As many changes could be made in the foregoing construction and manyapparently widely difierent embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It isalso to be understood that the language used in the following claims isintended to cover all of the generic and specific features of theinvention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be considered as fallingtherebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. Mounting means for a pair of flexible sheets secured together end toend comprising an individual casing for each of said sheets, the casingfor one of said sheets being mounted adjacent one end of an opening tobe covered by said sheets and the casing for the other of said sheetsbeing mounted adjacent the other end of said opening, a roller in eachof said casings, said sheets being wound on said rollers, means tendingto rotate said rollers in opposed directions to retain said sheets tautbetween them, and means for inversely changing the degree of exposure ofsaid sheets exterior of each of said casings, said last means beingoperable to stationarily fix the connecting point of said sheets withrespect to said opening and at any point intermediate said casings.

2. Means for mounting a pair of flexible sheets comprising a hookedbinder bar along one end of each of said sheets, said binder bars beingdetachably hooked together, a casing for each of said sheets, the casingfor one of said sheets being supported adjacent one side of an openingto be variably covered by said sheets and the casing for the other ofsaid sheets supported adjacent the opposite side of said opening, aroller in each of said casings, said sheets being wound on said rollers,said rollers being spring actuated in opposed directions to retain saidsheets taut between them and to retain said binder bars normally hookedtogether, and means for raising and lowering said binder bars.

PETER H. KUYPER.

